Adenovirus DNA in Guthrie cards from children who develop acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

BACKGROUND: In search of a proposed viral aetiology of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), the common species C adenoviruses were analysed in Guthrie cards. METHODS: Guthrie cards from 243 children who later developed ALL and from 486 matched controls were collected and analysed by nested polymerase chain reaction for the presence of adenovirus DNA. RESULTS: Adenovirus DNA was reliably detected from only two subjects, both of whom developed ALL. CONCLUSION: Adenovirus DNA is detected in Guthrie card samples at too low a frequency to reveal an association between adenovirus and the development of leukaemia.